First-year snakes, gone astray
by LittleMsM
Summary: Cassandra Black and her twin brother Pollux have been looking forward to starting their first year at Hogwarts. But now, between annoying Draco, avoiding Professor Snape and worrying about their grandma's state of mind, they have to find out how to help Harry Potter survive the year. Can the portraits Cassandra discovered in a hidden room help them? Philosopher's stone AU
1. Meetings on the Hogwarts Express

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

* * *

The red train whistled one last time, before leaving the station and the waving people on the platform behind. Inside, many students were still searching for their friends or an empty compartment to spent the ride in.

Their excited chatter could be heard even through the closed door of a compartment in the front part of the train. Inside, a raven-haired boy stared empty eyed out of the window. He was already bored out of his mind and the train ride would take a couple of hours. Opposite of him sat a girl, her curly hair the same dark color as the boys, with grey eyes fixed on a book in her lap. She took no notice of her surroundings, concentrating solely on the words in front of her. Her brother would tell her, if anything interesting happened.

The boy and the girl were fraternal twins, looking very much alike, except for the fact that one was male, the other female. They had the same chiseled nose, a mouth with a plump bottom lip and big, grey eyes, with a slightly arrogant look.

"I-I'm sorry, is-is there a s-seat free in h-here?", came a shy voice from the door.

The boy looked away from the window and carefully studied the newcomer. He seemed to be a first-year, just like them. Brown hair, a little ... was that a toad in his hand? Who in Merlin's name had a toad as a pet?

"Sure, sit down," his sister finally answered the question, without even looking up from her book. Her brother gave her a look, that went completely unnoticed, and sighed wearily.

The boy still lingered in the doorway, looking uncertain and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Well, don't stand there like a statue. Come-on in," he invited the boy again, not overly enthusiastic, but the boy finally seemed convinced and entered. He sat down opposite of them and studied them with shy curiosity, before turning white as a sheet and trying to hide in a corner of the compartment.

_"He is strange,"_ the boy thought to his sister. Being able to communicate silently with your twin certainly had its upsides and it was driving their grandmother up the wall. Though, most people simply thought they were a bit crazy, when they broke into fits of giggling seemingly without reason. It didn't really matter, considering many of their family members weren't exactly known for being sane.

He observed the newcomer for a couple more seconds before adding: _"Honestly, he looks like he's going to bolt for the door any minute."_

"_Whatever, be quiet and let me read,"_ was her answer, but his sister did look up from her book to study the boy. She frowned and opened her mouth to say something to him but was interrupted by the opening door. This time, it was a girl standing there, with bushy brown hair and to large front teeth.

"I'm Hermione Granger, nice to meet you. You are first years to, right? Can I sit with you? This is the first compartment with first-years I've found. Apparently, mostly the upper years are at the front of the train. I've heard them talk about school and I am so excited. Of course, I have learned all of the books by heart, I hope that will be enough. Do you know what House you will be sorted in, I mean no one really knows before..."

_"Does she ever breath?"_ the boy asked his sister.

The question remained unanswered, as the raven-haired girl only drummed her fingers on her book. She did that whenever something annoyed her or distracted her from reading.

"...what are your names by the way?" Hermione Granger finally concluded her speech.

_"Merlin's beard, finally. I don't even remember what she said at the beginning, do you, sister dear?"_

_"I haven't been paying attention, so, no."_

"Neville Longbottom," the boy in the corner answered, watching the twins carefully.

_"Longbottom? Well, that certainly explains his behavior. You do look a lot like Auntie Bella, sister." _

_"Do not,"_ came the sulky reply. There was a family resemblance. The dark, thick curls, the shape of the face and the inbreed arrogant look. But where the eyes of the infamous Askaban inmate were a cold black, the grey eyes the twins had inherited from their father held a sparkle of mischief and, if you looked close enough, you could even find a friendly warmth.

"I am Pollux Black and this is my twin sister, Cassandra," the raven-haired boy answered out loud, watching Neville's reaction out of the corner of his eye. The boy seemed to shrink further at the mention of their names.

"Black? I've read about the Black family. You're one of the..," Hermione started.

"Then you're muggle-born , aren't you?" Cassandra interrupted her. "Everybody _knows_ about the Black family."

"Yes, I was so excited when I got my letter. Learning magic. Can you imagine? Of course my parents didn't believe it at first but then Professor..."

_"Merlin's beard, why did she have to come into our compartment?"_ Pollux complained_, "Does she ever stop talking? Is that some requirement for mudbloods I don't know about?"_

_"How should I know? I don't hang out with mudbloods regularly."_

"... Ravenclaw wouldn't be bad either. What about you Neville?"

"Probably Hufflepuff," the boy answered, looking as if he wanted to be in another house but had given up hope.

"You're a Gryffindor," Cassandra answered, absentmindedly.

_"Gryffindor? Honestly, Cassy?" _

_" Come on, he certainly isn't a Slytherin. Ravenclaw? No. Hufflepuff? Perhaps. Gryffindor? Well, he has yet to run out of the compartment. I'd certainly call that brave enough for Gryffindor but, perhaps... It's just a feeling."_

Like her ancient Greek namesake, Cassandra had a talent for predicting the future, though, usually, she only knew something was going to happen, never when nor why or how. It was simply a fact that came to her mind, never a real prophesy. Most people simply called it a lucky guess.

"I don't think so. I'm not brave enough for Gryffindor," Neville answered sadly, his eyes trained on his arm where he was fiddling with his sleeve.

"We will see, Neville. Sometimes, you find courage where you least expect it," Cassandra said with a hint of a smile.

_"Do you always have to sound as if you were at least one hundred years old?"_

_"Stop exaggerating, Pollux," _Cassandra answered testily._ "If you read more instead of annoying the poor house-elf, you would sound the same."_

_"I do read!"_

_"Quidditch statistics don't count as reading."_

_"I read more than just Quidditch statistics!"_

"What Houses do you want to be in?" Hermione asked, looking at the Black children.

"Slytherin," the twins answered in unison.

"Perhaps Gryffindor, if we keep breaking family tradition like our father, but I'd rather not," Pollux added.

"Think of grandma's face if we did. That might be worth the trouble...," Cassandra mused. Just picturing her grandmother's face, if they wrote home and attached a red and golden tie to the letter, made her grin.

Pollux smiled at the thought but knew none of them would go through with it. Slytherin was the wisest choice - and the safest. The fun would only last for a few short moments, until their grandmother had figured out an appropriate punishment and Walburga Black could be quite creative with those.

"Doesn't Slytherin have a lot of dark wizards and witches? Why would you want to be in a House like that?" Hermione questioned them.

"Like Pollux said, it's tradition. Something valued very high amongst pure-bloods. Didn't any of your books tell you about that? And, not all of the traits Salazar Slytherin valued are bad. Determination, cleverness, resourcefulness, fraternity, those can be rather useful. Besides, wasn't Merlin also a Slytherin? I heard that even Muggles know about him. He was, after all, the greatest wizard of all times. Why not follow his footsteps?" Cassandra explained and Hermione launched into a story that Muggles told about King Arthur and his famous wizard Merlin. Absentmindedly, Cassandra wondered about the differences to the magical legend, when their compartment door opened again.

Pollux sighed: _"Next time, we're taking a compartment at the end of the train. There is too much through-going traffic here."_

Cassandra silently agreed.

This time it was two girls and a boy, all three of them seemed to be first-years. They were wearing their school robes already and were staring down at the four occupants of the compartment.

"Ups, wrong compartment," the boy said, swiping a strand of his chocolate brown hair out of his eyes.

"Seems like you have landed us directly in mudblood company, Theo," one of the girls said, after catching a bit of Hermione's story. The other girl giggled.

"Shut up and leave. I'm trying to read here and those giggles make it hard to concentrate," Cassandra growled at them, annoyed. She hated being interrupted during reading and after the first two times, her patients was wearing thin. Besides, calling someone a mudblood when you didn't know them was dangerous. He or she could be a half-blood or even a pure-blood simply interested in the Muggle legend of King Arthur. After all, even pure-blood children knew about King Arthur. You could easily alienate someone, who might be of use in the future.

The twins certainly weren't fans of muggle-borns, of that their grandmother had made sure, but they didn't outright disrespect them, either. Muggle-borns just had to learn a few rules pure-bloods and most half-bloods were raised with. Like, don't tell Muggles about magic and certainly don't let them see you doing any spells, even if they are family. It had ended badly for more than one witch or wizard. In fact, trying to stay away from them in general was the best solution. There were always one or two Muggles that noticed how the magical people stuck out of the crowd. Then again, perhaps muggle-borns knew how to fit in. They wore a lot of those jeans and whatever else Muggles wore instead of robes.

"Oh, well, what do you know, two Blacks in mudblood company. You don't see that every day. Wouldn't your grandmother be proud of you?" the girl answered. Millicent Bulstrode was her name, Cassandra finally remembered. They had met her at one of Aunt Cissy's birthday parties, ... or was it Draco's? She couldn't remember. The resemblance to her father had been highly visible and that was not a compliment. Cassandra shuddered to think that the grandmother of her grandmother had been a Bulstrode as well. Luckily the Black genes seemed to be dominant.

_"The other one is Pansy Parkinson, remember her?"_ Pollux supplied helpfully.

_"The one with the tea stain on her robes?" _Cassandra asked, studying the dark-haired girl.

_"Yep. I thought you'd remember such a pug-face."_

_"Why should I? There is nothing special about her."_

"What would your father say, if he heard about your absolute disregard for manners and proper etiquette?" Cassandra asked sweetly, pointing at the tea stain on the other girls robes. "Do me a favor and get out now. I'll have to spend the next seven years with you around. Let me enjoy the last minutes without giggles and clothes and boy talk."

Perhaps she could have handled the situation better but Cassandra simply didn't have the nerves for it. She had had to listen to the girl's mindless blabber for over an hour once and had decided then and there nothing - absolutely nothing - the girl might be able to help her with in the future, was worth this torture.

"You better... Ugh! Is that a toad? Get it away from me!" Pansy Parkinson screeched and kicked the poor toad, that had jumped off Neville's lap, away. It flew out of the compartment and landed somewhere out of sight.

"Trevor!" Neville shouted, alarmed, while Pansy hurried away from the animal with Millicent and Theo, Theodore Nott, hot on her heals.

Neville left the compartment to go collect his toad but came back a couple of minutes later, looking terrified. "I cannot find him anywhere! What if he's hurt? I've asked people but no one saw him."

Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged him out again: "We'll go through the train and see if we can find the toad. He has to be somewhere."

"We'll stay here, perhaps he'll come back on his own," Pollux murmured after they had already left. His sister simply raised an eyebrow.

_"I certainly won't go through the train asking if someone's seen a toad,"_ he said, shuddering at the mere thought.

_"Never said you had to," _Cassandra answered, understanding her brother's reaction. Owning a toad... well, it certainly did nothing for your reputation among the other students.

_"I hope so. I mean, a toad? Come on, who owns a toad nowadays?"_

_"A Longbottom, apparently. Though I honestly don't know why."_

_"Or why he's so panicked about losing it. I would be happy to be rid of it."_

_"Perhaps he has a reason why he loves it so much. And now, let me read."_

With that Cassandra left her brother mulling over reasons, why someone could want to own a toad.

_"Perhaps we should change into the school robes,"_ the boy suggested after a while, standing up and grabbing his trunk. His sister sighed, carefully marked her book and followed his example.

When Neville and Hermione came back later, the boy looked devastated.

"No luck?" Pollux asked. He really did not like toads but seeing the other boy so sad made him sympathize. "He'll come back, don't worry. And if not, I think they check the train for any lost belongings, before it goes back to London. Someone will find him. Don't worry."

"Do you know who we met on the train?" Hermione suddenly asked, the excitement audible in her voice.

Cassandra sighed but looked up at her expectantly.

"Harry Potter, can you believe that? He's in a compartment further down, close to the end of the train. He is famous. I've read about him in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and..."

"Harry Potter," Pollux said, lost in thoughts. "Last time we met, we were all babies. I still have a picture. I think it's from his first birthday. It was amongst our baby stuff. Snatched it, before grandma could get rid of it."

"You know him?" Hermione asked, bewildered. She seemed not to have expected this.

"Mhh. He's a distant cousin. His grandma on his father's side was a Black. Dorea Potter nee Black, wasn't it?" Cassandra mused. "I wonder how much longer it's going to take until we arrive."

The sky outside was darkening and both twins were beginning to feel hungry. They hadn't eaten anything since breakfast early that morning. A woman had passed with a trolley of sweets some time ago but sweets weren't really good for filling an empty stomach. They only made you sick, if you ate to much of them.

"I've asked the driver, while we were looking for Trevor. We'll be there soon," Hermione supplied.

"Good. I've already finished my book and now I'm bored," Cassandra said with a sighed.

_"YOU are bored? What about me? You had your bloody book. I couldn't do anything in here. No playing pranks on the house elf..."_

_"Poor Kreacher will be happy to have you out of the house."_

_"You're my sister! You're supposed to support me," _Pollux whined, giving Cassandra his best puppy-dog eyes. The young witch shook her head at his behavior but gave him a smile. Her brother knew she would always help him to get out of trouble, just like he would do his best to help her.

"What were you reading?" Hermione asked, trying to read the title of the book in the Black girl's lap upside down. "It isn't one of the books on the list. I know all of the covers."

"No, we both had to read those books when we were kids," Cassandra said. The school books were far too boring for her by now. If one had the books of the library of the Black family at their disposal, books for beginners had nothing new to offer. "This is _Asiatic Anti-Venoms_. Quite interesting if you like Potions. They have a very fascinating way of how to add the ingredients. You know, if you've read _Magical Drafts and Potions_..."

"Come on, Cassy. Not everybody is so interested in Potions as you are," Pollux interrupted her, knowing very well how much his sister could talk about Potions. He had to suffer through her lectures whenever she found an new book in the Black library.

"I know. You are the one that doesn't stop talking about dragons once you've started - even if nobody is listening."

Just like his sister was mesmerized by potions her brother loved everything that had to do with the fire breathing creatures.

"Dragons are fascinating creatures. You like them, too."

"I like snakes, thank you very much. And cats. No fire breathing," Cassandra shuddered at the thought. "You can get burnt all you like. I'm not going anywhere near a dragon."

"What does fire have to do with anything? They only try to burn you if you threaten them. Isn't every being entitled to be able to defend itself? Besides, many snakes are poisonous. Isn't that just as dangerous?"

The twins continued squabbling about it under the astonished gaze of the other two occupants of the compartment. The bickering was a regular occurrence in the Black household, albeit never in the presence of Walburga Black. Or, at least not out loud.

They continued until train began to slow down.

"Looks like we've arrived."


	2. Sortings and Table Talk

The train had finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station and Cassandra and Pollux, together with the other first years, followed a giant man and his lantern down to a lake.

_"If he doesn't have a giant somewhere in his family, I'm going to eat a broom,"_ Pollux said.

_"I think you're lucky. There is no way he doesn't have giant blood. Do you think he is the gamekeeper grandma always complained about?"_

_"Hagrid, wasn't it?"_

_"I wonder why we take a different route then the other students..."_

When Hogwarts finally came in sight, the question answered itself. They were both in awe. Of course they had heard several relatives describe the majestic castle, overlooking the lake, but nothing came close to seeing it with your own eyes.

_"It does look amazing. Sitting up there_ _and all of the windows. Look how high the windows go up. That has to be the towers ..."_

_"It has its charms, but are we really going to cross the lake on boats?"_ Pollux asked, eying the lake and then the small boats Hagrid had pointed at.

_"Boats? Great. I hope I don't get sea sick,"_ Cassandra said faintly.

They got on a boat with another pair of twins named Padma and Parvati, who were both chattering excitedly. Pollux listened to them, while keeping an eye on his sister. She truly wasn't fond of boats and had turned slightly green.

They had been on a boat twice before, when they visited a very paranoid family member. The woman lived on an island, in the middle of a huge lake. The only way to get there was using a boat. Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards, as well as no floo connection, left little choice for visitors. After these two visits, their grandmother had decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Cassandra was sick half of the time, which annoyed Pollux to no end. Without his sister, he could only listen to the elderly women's chatter and that bored him out of his mind.

This time, luckily, there were neither wind nor high waves and the boats glided gracefully over the surface of the black lake.

Still, when they finally got out of the boats Cassandra's legs were shaking a little.

_"You're ok?"_ Pollux asked worriedly, grabbing his sisters arm to steady her.

_"Been better."_

* * *

Hagrid knocked on the great door and when it had opened, they could see an elderly witch standing there. She greeted them and lead them into a small room, next to the Great Hall where they had to wait until everything was ready for the sorting. Around them were whispers of what the sorting would be like. A lot of strange rumors seemed to circulate amongst the other first years and the twins listened bemusedly.

_"Fight a troll? Where did he get that idea from?" _Pollux wondered.

_"Well, our dear Hermione certainly learned all the books by heart,"_ Cassandra asserted, after listening to the girl sprouting all different kinds of spells._ "I wonder if there is any spell in there, that would help against a troll? I don't remember any."_

_"There isn't. I would have kept that one in mind. Perhaps in one of the books you 'borrowed' from the family library?"_

_"I have no idea what books you're talking about," _the girl deadpanned. _"But in any case, it might be an interesting subject to research."_

_"Planning on fighting a troll anytime soon? I thought that would be more up my alley."_

_"You never know when you might have to fight a troll. Even if said troll is an old talking hat."_

Their grandmother had told them how they would be sorted into the houses. She did not believe in surprising the first-years with such a 'wonderful example of magic', as many parents did. Back's were not surprised. Ever.

The arrival of the Hogwarts' ghosts startled all first-years. Even the twins, growing up in a pure-blood household, had never seen a ghost before. But there was no mistaking the pearly white, more or less translucent beings for anything else. The siblings eyed the ghosts curiously, taking in all of the strange clothes from long ago. They all seemed to have died in different centuries, judging by the differences in their attire.

Mostly ignoring the stunned first-years the ghosts continued an argument they seemed to have started earlier. They were discussing some other ghost. Apparently they were deeply divided about what to do with him.

_"Peeves? Isn't that the Poltergeist?"_

_"Yes. Aunt Cissy talked a lot about him. He has to be a real nuisance."_

_"Well, he better doesn't try to play one of his tricks on me,_" Cassandra grumbled.

_"You're the daughter of a prankster, remember?"_

_"Don't worry, I remember grandma's speech vividly. No letters about us getting detention because of pranks, blah blah. Why did I have to listen to that? You're the one that constantly plays pranks on the house-elf."_

Professor McGonagall arrived, shooed the ghosts away and led the first years into the Great Hall.

_"The ceiling is amazing. Look at all of the stars. That's Dad up there and Uncle Regulus over there."_

_"And I'm up there somewhere too. Pollux and Castor, I know. And you're no up there. Not named after a star or a constellation. Strange for a Black."_

_"Cassandra is the name of an asteroid, thank you very much. Besides, not all Blacks are named after some celestial body. Take Narcissa for example or Dorea or Elladora or..." _

The Sorting Hat began his song about the four houses but neither of the twins listened. Cassandra was busy gazing at the star-covered ceiling and Pollux was watching the students at the house tables. The older students were listening to the song but most were studying the first-years.

Calling up "Abbott, Hannah" Professor McGonagall started the sorting.

Right after the blond girl was sorted into Hufflepuff, the Professor called for: "Black, Cassandra."

When she stepped forward and sat down, a lot of the students at the house tables were murmuring and frowning at her.

_"I love my name,"_ she thought sarcastically, before the Sorting Hat dropped over her eyes.

_"Mhh, an interesting mind you have, young lady,"_ a voice said, startling her.

_"What the... Who is that, Cassy?"_ Pollux asked, astonished.

_"You can hear it, too?"_ Cassandra wondered. Normally, they had to think directly at the other for them to hear each others thoughts. If they wanted, they could dive deeper into the others mind, to find out what they were doing but they were both able to shut the other out, if they choose to do so.

_"Interesting. I sit on the head of one and yet, I can see the minds of two. Very similar. Very clever, both of you, incredibly loyal to each other. Exceptionally stubborn, once you made up your mind and exceedingly resourceful in reaching your aim. Yes. Determined to stay together, are we? Then it better be ... _SLYTHERIN!"

The Sorting Hat shouted the last word into the Great Hall. No one seemed to be surprised but the low muttering at the tables continued. Professor McGonagall took the hat from Cassandra and called the next name on her list: "Black, Pollux."

This time, the Sorting Hat barely hit the boys head, before it shouted "SLYTHERIN!", again.

Cassandra, who had not walked very far towards their new house table, waited, until her brother caught up with her and together they sat down at the table.

"I'm Gemma Farley, one of the prefects. Welcome to Slytherin. Two Blacks will certainly make Slytherin proud," a fifth year with short brown hair introduced herself, while Vincent Crabbe joint their table.

"Thank you. We hope the house will meet our expectations, as well," Pollux replied haughtily, easily falling into his role as the Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

_"Better play along and be what they expect us to be. Hopefully, they'll leave us in peace then."_

_"Pure-blood supremacy, yeay!" _Cassandra answered in mock enthusiasm._ "I short, be like grandma and everything is fine. Should have aimed for Gryffindor instead. No pure-blood whatsoever there."_

_"As daughter of Sirius Black. Gryffindor? Really?"_

_"All right, Ravenclaw then. Besides, how long do you think you'll manage to play the perfect little pure-blood heir?"_

Pollux had no answer for that question.

A shout of "GRYFFINDOR!" gained their attention and they watched Hermione Granger walk towards the Gryffindor table.

_"I would have sworn she was a Ravenclaw, with how much she likes to read and study," _Pollux mumbled.

_"Apparently not. I wonder when Longbottom will be sorted."_

They did not have to wait long until Neville was called to the front. The Sorting Hat stayed silent for a long time.

_"Gryffindor, come on, that boy is a Gryffindor,"_ Cassandra repeated impatiently in her head. _"What in Merlin's name is taking it so long?"_

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat finally decided and Neville's surprise was visible on his face. His eyes flickered to the Slytherin table for a moment, before he joined his new house mates.

_"Said so,"_ Cassandra thought smugly. Pollux fondly shook his head at his sister's antics.

_"Our dear cousin Draco should be up soon."_

_"Don't remind me. The next seven years with him in the same house?"_

_"You won't have to share a dormitory with him."_

_"True, but then, I'll have Bulstrode and probably will get Parkinson as well. Hopefully Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davies won't be as bad as them or I'll go insane."_

_"Two words. Crabbe, Goyle. Aaand ... yes, Malfoy on top of that,"_ Pollux said, just as Draco Malfoy was made a Slytherin.

_"Poor you. And look, you get Nott as well,"_ said Cassandra gleefully.

_"Well, he's better than the other three."_

_"Right. Don't worry, I think there'll be another boy for Slytherin and he'll be ok."_

_"Please let it be prescience, please. I want to survive seven years of Hogwarts without landing myself in a closed off ward at St. Mungo's."_

_"Don't worry. If Auntie Bella didn't get committed to St. Mungo's, I doubt you ever will. No matter what you do, you will never reach her level of insanity."_

Suddenly, the murmuring in the Great Hall rose. Looking to the front, the twins could see the Sorting Hat being placed on the head of a small raven-haired boy.

"Is that really THE Harry Potter?" a Slytherin boy to Pollux left asked.

_"Obviously. Who else is he supposed to be? Salazar Slytherin?!"_ Cassandra grumbled. _"How may eleven year old wizards are named Harry Potter?"_

Neither of them could remember much of their cousin Harry, having been too young before the murder of James and Lily Potter. But on the one picture they had saved from their grandmother, were three raven-haired toddlers playing happily together on toy broomsticks. The picture always cheered them up when their grandmother had another fit about whatever it was that time, really. Even though they did not really know him, in their mind, Harry was the only real family they had left. Their grandmother certainly didn't count and the rest was either dead, locked up or a Malfoy.

_"He's quite small,"_ Pollux wondered. _"Compared to the others."_

_"He'll hit a growth spurt soon enough. Though, I wonder what's taking the hat so long. Even Neville's sorting didn't take that much time."_

When the hat finally decided on "GRYFFINDOR!" it surprised neither of them.

_"Just like his parents," _Pollux remarked, as the Gryffindor table started to cheer. They could hear some people call: "We've got Potter! We've got Potter!"

A few seats down the table Malfoy snorted in disgust.

"Problem, Cousin dearest?" Cassandra spat. _"He'd better not be thinking about causing any problems for Harry."_

The twins had never gotten along with their cousin. His snootiness and constant whining had annoyed them to no end, even when they were small children. Any chance of friendship had been ruined, when Pollux had turned Draco's hair red for breaking the wing off of one of his toy dragons. The wing could be reattached, but no one was able to reverse the accidental magic. Nothing they tried worked and Draco had to walk around with Gryffindor red hair until it grew out.

"I don't know. Should I have problems with someone who chooses the company of blood-traitors over pure-bloods?" the blond boy answered. "Famous Harry Potter."

"Aww did bad Harry not want poor Draykie's friendship?" Cassandra mocked. _"Good for Harry. I doubt that he would have survived this friendship for a week without running from Draco."_

"Hey, watch how you talk to Draco," Pansy intervened. She had forced Crabbe to give up his seat next to Draco for her to sit in and was clinging to the blonde's side. How their cousin managed to eat like this, was a mystery to the twins.

_"Try not to start an all out war, I still have to share a dormitory with him."_

_"If you don't manage to stop anything he tries on you, you deserve it."_

Pollux sighed. He preferred to simply ignore Draco, but his sister liked to taunt him, knowing she would always win the argument. The blond boy had grown up far to sheltered and did not have the experience they had in setting verbal traps. Even though this was a skill Slytherins - well, with the exception of Crabbe and Goyle - were born with, only practice made you perfect.

_"Anyway, I thought you were the king of pranks. I´m sure you'll manage."_

_"It's not becoming of the Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black to play pranks..."_

_"Sure..."_

_"...but, if no one knows it was me..."_

"Stay out of this, Pansy, it's family business," Cassandra finally answered the girl, as Ronald Weasley joined Harry at the Gryffindor table, the smaller boy grinning at the redhead.

_"Well, if the blood-traitor was Weasley, I can understand Draco a little. A Malfoy coming up second to a Weasley. That must hurt,"_ Pollux stated. The reputation of the Weasley family amongst the other pure-bloods was truly abysmal.

_"Might be good for his ego. It could use deflating,"_ Cassandra answered, unconcerned.

_"What do you expect? He is Lucius Malfoys son."_

_"I sometimes wonder if he would be different without his father's influence, maybe even tolerable?"_ Cassandra admitted, _"Auntie Cissy can be nice, if no one else is around."_

Finally, Blaise Zabini joint the Slytherin table, as the last first-year to be sorted.

_"So Zabini is the boy you were talking about earlier?"_

_"Apparently. Boy, Slytherin, it fits. Mhh. Zabini... Isn't his mother that beautiful witch who's been married, how many times?..., and the husband always died?"_

_"I remember his mother, but I've never seen him before."_

_"Didn't his mother tell Auntie Cissy that he spent most of his time in Italy, with his father's parents?"_

Dinner suddenly appeared on the table and there were some surprised sound from the other tables but soon everybody was busy trying all the different dishes.

"Potatoes?" the blond girl next to Cassandra asked and offered her a plate.

"Sure, thank you," Cassandra replied. "You're Daphne, right?"

"Yes. I've seen you and your brother on one of Draco's birthday parties, but we never talked. Cassandra and Pollux Black, wasn't it?"

"Draco's birthday never has been our favorite day of the year..."

"I remember you sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, reading and your brother sitting next to you, watching people," Tracy Davies interjected from next to Daphne. "I wanted to come over and talk to you but..."

* * *

"So, you are Blaise Zabini," Pollux said to the boy, who had sat down opposite of him. "I remember your mother. She said you spent a lot of time in Italy?"

The dark-haired boy looked at him with big blue eyes: "I like Italy, it's warm and sunny. You can go to the beach all summer. And I love pasta."

The boy chose his words carefully and the strong accent only underlined his unfamiliarity with the language.

"Pasta? Hmm, our house-elf never cooks pasta. Only traditional English food. Don't you miss your mother when you're in Italy?" Pollux asked.

"She never has time for me, so no, not really."

* * *

"I wonder how our common room looks like. Father said it is in the dungeons and you can see into the lake from the windows," Daphne said.

"But wouldn't that make the room really dark? No windows with actual sunlight?" Tracy wondered between the last bites of her desert.

The headmaster rose from his chair and started his speech.

_"The Forbidden Forrest is forbidden? I would never have guessed that,"_ Pollux said, shaking his head.

_"Well, apparently some people needed a reminder. Did you see the look Dumbledore sent towards the Gryffindor table? What I wonder, why is a complete corridor forbidden? I can't remember reading or hearing about it. Must be dangerous, if they do not simply get rid of it,"_ Cassandra mused.

_"Yes. But, if it's dangerous, wouldn't it be better to not have whatever it is around the students. Especially if some of them happen to be Gryffindors?"_

When Dumbledore announced that, before going to bed, they would have to sing the School Song Pollux groaned.

_"Do we really have to sing the school song? I hate singing."_

_"Then choose a fast melody so you'll be done sooner."_

They sang the song, though Cassandra joined her brother in singing it as fast as possible, without stumbling over the words. The text was truly ridiculous in her opinion but she had a feeling that it suited the school perfectly. After the last two Gryffindors had finally finished, the first-years followed their prefect to the common rooms.

It got cooler on the way down the stairs to the dungeons and Cassandra pulled her robes tighter around herself.

_"I hope it's not this cold in the common room and the dormitories."_

The stone walls where lit up by torches and the twins tried their best to remember every turn they took. It wouldn't do for them to get lost. No Slytherin would ever get lost, especially if said Slytherin was also a Black.

Gemma Farley stopped in front of a wall.

"This is the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Remember it well. The password will change on the first of every month. For now it is _Parselmouth_," she said, and the wall opened to reveal the Slytherin common room. The room was cast in a shimmery green light from the lake, that truly was in front of the windows.

"Ah, yes, the most notably feature of our common room. We can see directly into the lake. Sometimes, you will even see merpeople swimming by. Some say, the windows give the room the aura of a mysterious underwater shipwreck," the prefect explained.

_"Mysterious? Good. Shipwreck? I hate anything that moves on water!"_ Cassandra complained to her brother.

_"At least the room is not moving."_

_"Thank Merlin for that."_

"The dormitory for the boys is this way, for the girls that way," Gemma said and pointed into the direction. "Tomorrow morning, you will all meet up here at seven. Professor Snape will want to talk to you and then you will go to the Great Hall for breakfast together. Now, off to your dormitories and a good night."

The boys and girls walked into the direction of their respective dormitories.

"Don't you say goodnight to your brother?" Daphne asked Cassandra, looking at the retreating backs of the male first-years.

"He'll keep me up half of the night, talking about Merlin knows what. It's not time for goodnight yet."

"How will you talk to him? You're in different dormitories," Tracy asked, confused.

"We have our ways," Cassandra replied, grinning and not at all feeling any need to give up that particular secret just yet.

"Those beds look comfortable," Daphne exclaimed upon entering the room.

Inside the room were five big beds, with emerald green curtains around them. Millicent and Pansy, having entered the room before them, had already picked two beds next to each other. Cassandra chose the one nearest to the door and furthest from the window. The room might not be moving, but that didn't mean she had to like watching the water.

"I'm so full," Tracy said, after falling onto her bed.

"But it was so good. Did you try the chocolate éclairs?" Daphne asked.

"Shouldn't have but they were good," Cassandra mumbled into her pillow, unwilling to get up, change and brush her teeth. In the end she did managed to get up again and complete her evening routine.

_"Tired?"_ Pollux asked, once she had fallen back into her bed.

_"Merlin, yes! How is sharing a dormitory with our cousin?" _she replied, yawning into her pillow.

_"He's talking, talking and surprise, talking. About his godfather Snape, mostly. Crabbe und Goyle are hanging onto his every word. Blaise appears highly uncomfortable around them and even Theo looks annoyed. He seems to be ok, when he isn't around Parkinson."_

_"Don't remind me of Parkinson. She's been talking nonstop to Bulstrode about a pink dress. Remind me to look up a silencing charm,"_ Cassandra grumbled and yawned.

_"Right. Sleeping time. We have to get up early tomorrow. Good night, sister."_

_"Good night." _


	3. Trouble with a Potion Master

The beeping of an alarm woke Cassandra the next morning. She shut it off and checked the time. Half past six. Enough time to get ready and be at the common room early. She woke up Daphne and Tracy, before going to the bathroom.

When she returned, Pansy had gotten up as well. All of the others were still looking tired.

_"Thank grandma for insisting we get up early,"_ Pollux thought. _"At least I'm fully awake now. Draco looks quite unhappy. Must have stayed up to long yesterday. He was still talking when I fell asleep."_

_"Bulstrode is still sleeping. Well, she has still ten minutes left. Meet me in the common room?"_

_"Sure. Perhaps you should wake up Bulstrode before you leave."_

_"Probably."_, Cassandra sighed.

They met in the common room and set down on one of the leather couches. Daphne, Tracy and Blaise joint them one after the other.

"Will we get our timetable now or at breakfast?" Tracy asked.

"No idea," Pollux answered, shrugging his shoulders. He studied the older students passing through the common room. There were only a few of them awake already, most of them fifth-years and higher with books under their arms. Cassandra fussed over her brothers robes and straightened his crooked tie, shaking her head at his thoughtlessness.

The door to the common room opened and Professor Snape entered the room. His dark eyes swept over the waiting first years.

"Where is the rest?" he asked curtly, his voice loud and clear throughout the whole room. Some older students coming down the stairs from their dormitories quietly greeted him with a nod before hurrying out of the room.

Cassandra looked around the assembled first-years and noticed Millicent missing.

"She can't have fallen asleep _again_," she sighed.

"You better go and bring you friend down here, Miss Black," the Professor said in a cold voice.

"She certainly isn't my friend," Cassandra mumbled under her breath.

"What was that, Miss Black?" Black eyes fixing the girl with a cold stare.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm already on my way," she answered and went back to wake Millicent Bulstrode up, again.

"While we're waiting for those two, I will explain a thing or two to you. I do not want any complaints from another teacher about you. You're Slytherins. Break the rules if you must, but _don't _get caught. Especially not by me. Many of the other students say I favor my own house, but I will not tolerate you bringing shame upon your house. I will find many things to sort out in my cupboards..."

Cassandra could hear the Professor's voice up to the door of her dormitory. Grumbling, she yanked the door open only to find Millicent Bulstrode asleep on her bed.

"Wake up!" she shook the other girl on her shoulder. "Professor Snape is already downstairs!"

"Let me sleep!" Millicent mumbled into her pillow. "It's early!"

"If you want detention on your first day, fine by me!"

That seemed to wake up the girl. Noticing the empty dormitory Millicent stumbled to the bathroom. Cassandra sat on her own bed, waiting for the girl to get ready. It wouldn't do if she fell asleep again. Besides, Pollux would tell her everything their Head of House said.

Once she saw the other girl dressed in school robes, she left for the common room.

_"What did I miss?"_ Cassandra asked her brother, a still sleepy Millicent trailing her.

_"Don't get caught breaking rules. Many of the teachers don't like Slytherins. No official punishments from Snape, but you better not be caught by him or you'll get to sort out old potion ingredients." _

_"Potion ingredients?"_ Cassandra piped up.

_"No punishment for you then. You'd probably be happy to sort out moldy flobberworms,"_ Pollux shuddered at the mere thought.

_"It's part of potion making. Though moldy flobberworms smell disgusting. Why would anyone keep them long enough for them to become moldy?"_

_"Whatever. There was nothing to interesting after that."_

"Good, now to your timetables. I've got one for each of you, pass them on," Snape said, handing the timetables to Tracy. "Once you've got one, go to Miss Farley, she'll lead you to the Great Hall."

The twins grabbed a timetable each from Tracy and went to line up behind Gemma.

_"Potions with the Gryffindors, Herbology with Ravenclaws, DADA, Transfiguration as well... ,"_ Cassandra asserted, while scanning the paper.

"Alright, first years, follow me!" Gemma Farley said and let them to breakfast.

"Professor Snape seemed to dislike you. Have you met him before?" Tracy asked Cassandra quietly.

"Not as far as I remember. We only saw him at one of Draco's birthday parties. I have no idea what's his problem."

* * *

The first week at Hogwarts passed quickly. They had found their way into the classrooms thanks to Blaise excellent sense of orientation and Pollux new friendship with the Bloody Baron. The ghost was happy to help out the young Slytherins and had chased Peeves away when he had bothered them. Cassandra still found the silvery blood on his robes to be creepy but all in all the ghost seemed to be ok. Anybody who could keep the menace that was Peeves away from her was worth keeping around.

The Poltergeist had started pestering the Slytherin first-years on their way to their first lesson. He had started with throwing chalk at them and progressed to pulling on Cassandra's long curls. Needless to say the girl was not amused about that. But since the Bloody Baron had started talking to Pollux Peeves had moved on to pestering the students of the other Houses.

They had seen Harry in a couple of classes, but had not approached him. The Weasley boy was always around him and glared at them, when they were to close. Whisper had announced Harry's arrival the whole week. Everybody seemed to want to get a good look at the Boy Who Lived and Harry was obviously hating every minute of it. He was fidgeting nervously with the sleeve of his robe and his eyes scurried from one student to the next.

_"Sometimes I wonder where he grew up. He doesn't seem to truly believe he's famous. As if he'd not known it,"_ Pollux had told his sister at dinner one day.

_"It's a good question. I'm not sure who's still related to the Potters, except for the Blacks and Lily was a mudblood...so no relatives there they could have put him with."_

Wednesday, two hours before midnight, they had Astronomy. A group of yawning Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were sitting on top of the highest tower of the castle, wondering if they managed to get through the class without falling asleep.

_"I almost feel sorry for the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors,"_ Pollux told his sister. _"I mean, their class is after ours. I wonder if they have lessons at all tomorrow morning."_

Professor Sinistra had started the class by naming the planets and asking, if anybody knew the name of a constellation or a star.

"There is Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cygnus, Orion and the Gemini with the stars Pollux and Castor. Then there is Leo with Regulus and Carnis Major with Sirius," Cassandra started to name a few constellations and their stars not bothering to wait for the teacher to call her. The Hufflepuffs around her and the Professor looked surprised but a few Slytherins snorted in amusement.

"Miss Black, wasn't it?" Professor Sinistra asked. "Yes, you would know a lot about stars and constellations. Your family has a tradition for naming their children after celestial bodies."

_"Indeed,"_ Pollux grumbled. He had never been to happy with his name. It was far to uncommon and sounding old fashioned in his opinion.

_"Come on, it could have been worse. You could have been names Cygnus or even worse Arcturus. At least you got the immortal one of the twins."_

_"But why did dad name me after a star at all? He completely broke with the family, why not also with that tradition?"_

_"Ask him, not me."_

_"Funny. Just think of it. 'Grandmother, I need you to write to the Minister of Magic for me. I need to visit dad in Askaban to ask him why he named me Pollux.' "_

_"Well, in that case I can't help you."_

* * *

Friday was their first Potions class. Pollux and Cassandra had sat down at a table with Blaise. Tracy and Daphne took the one next to them together with Theo. Over the last days, the boy had tried to distance himself as much as possible from Pansy and Tracy had felt for the miserable looking boy and invited them into their group. The boy had turned out to be quiet but very intelligent. He only opened his mouth if he felt he had something important to contribute.

They were all waiting for Professor Snape. When he arrived he started the class by taking the register. His eyes flickered up when he read the twins name and when he reached Harry, he paused: "Ah, yes, Harry Potter. Our new celebrity"

Draco and his friends sniggered at that.

_"Oh shut up you three!"_ Cassandra grumbled.

When the Professor finished, he looked at the class and said: "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little wand-waving here..."

_"There better not be. I don't want to end up covered in a potion because someone managed to explode his cauldron,"_ Cassandra thought. They were seated to closely for avoiding getting drenched in liquid if a neighbor managed to mess up their potion.

"...-if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Pollux watched Hermione Granger sit on the edge of her chair, looking eager to start, so she could proof herself.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel into an infusion of wormwood?" Professor Snape suddenly asked.

Hermione's hand shot in the air as Harry said: "I don't know sir."

"Tut tut - fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look, if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

_"Why is he asking Harry all those questions? Hermione clearly knows the answer and you surely do, too," _ Pollux wondered.

_"Don't ask me. But I wonder why there are not more raised hands. It's all in the book, has no one ever bothered to read it?"_

_"Not everybody is so interested in their studies to start beforehand."_

_"But the answers are easy. Draught of the Living Dead, stomach of a goat, same plant."_

"I don't know. I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" they heard Harry say.

_"Brave little lion. But he does have a point."_

_"You already said so and why would I want to copy that? It's not that grand new information."_

_"For you, sister, for you. Wait... Did he just honestly take a point from Gryffindor?!"_

_"Looks like he did. Head start for Slytherin at winning the House Cup. I heard Snape dislikes the lions but that is certainly a bit much. Well then, let's start to cure imaginary boils."_

Cassandra had always liked potions and had even managed to talk their grandmother into letting her brew. Considering their grandmothers temper, that was an amazing feat. With his sisters help, Pollux had little trouble brewing the potion.

_"What is strange is, why doesn't he explain how the ingredients are supposed to be prepared?"_ Cassandra wondered, halfway through brewing her potion.

_"It's in the book."_

_"No. I mean, sure, it says dice, but not how to cut them exactly. It does make a difference. I'm not sure if everybody knows the difference between quartered and diced but it's vital for the potion."_

She looked around and watched the other students for a moment. _"Correction. I am sure not all of them know. Do you see what Goyle did? That's neither sliced nor quartered. That's a massacre. What has that poor root ever done to deserve such a fate?"_

They could hear Snape criticizing all of the Gryffindor potions and praising Malfoy for having boiled his horned slugs perfectly.

_"He really does favor his godson,"_ Pollux observed.

_"Won't be of much use to Malfoy. Perfectly boiled horned slugs or not, he heated the mixture for too long before adding them. The whole potion is useless."_

_"Is it?"_

A loud hissing interrupted their conversation. Neville had managed to melt a cauldron and the potion was seeping across the floor.

"On your chairs!" Cassandra told the others noticing the strange consistency of the potion. "It'll burn holes into your shoes."

Snape removed the potion with one move of his wand.

_"I have to learn that spell! That is really useful if you spill something,"_ Cassandra thought, while Snape took out his anger at the Gryffindors.

_"Another point from Gryffindor for something that wasn't even his fault?! That's really not fair. Take it from Neville, if you have to!"_ Pollux grumbled.

"Professor?" Cassandra suddenly said, not willing to let this continue. Singling out one student in class was not acceptable, especially if said student was a relative of hers.

_"What are you doing, sister?"_ Pollux asked warily. _"Remember what grandma said, no letters about detention."_

_"Don't worry so much. Besides, she said no detention for pranks."_

"Professor, I have a question. If Potter is responsible for Longbottom messing up his potion, does that mean we're supposed to watch our neighbors potion more closely than our own? I mean, that is the only way to keep track of what they are doing. But on the other hand, wouldn't that mean we can pay less attention to what we are doing and so are more likely to make mistakes?"

The whole room went silent in a second and everybody stared at Cassandra. No one had expected anybody, least of all a Slytherin, to stand up to their Professor. To defend a lion on top of that.

"Are you saying I don't know about how potions get messed up or when to take points, Miss Black?" Professor Snape asked in a cold voice, walking over to their table.

"Not at all Professor. I'm simply trying to understand what you want to teach us by that example. Or are questions not allowed anymore in classrooms?"

_"You are so getting into trouble for that,"_ Pollux groaned.

_"He has no legitimate reason to take points from me nor for putting me in detention. I know the school rules. He can do absolutely nothing,"_ Cassandra answered him gleefully. The Gryffindors, she noted, were all staring wide-eyed at her.

_"Well, it's not every day a snake protects a lion,"_ Pollux stated.

"Finish your potions," Professor Snape finally snapped before sweeping up to his desk and sitting down.

"You're in big trouble now," Daphne said worriedly.

"There isn't much he can do right now. I haven't broken a single rule," Cassandra replied nonchalant.

"But he might single you out in class," Blaise added, concern in his eyes.

"This is Potions we're talking about. My sister aces Potions," Pollux injected.

"Still, you can't know everything he asks," Tracy said.

Cassandra thought about it for a few seconds: "If the answer to his question is in the curriculum of our first four years it's no problem. I haven't managed to read through everything that comes after that but I read some additional books."

She stared at the teacher in front of her for a while before suddenly saying: "Chocolate cake."

"Chocolate cake? Are you sure you're alright?" Tracy questioned her.

"There will be chocolate cake at dinner?" Pollux asked his sister, hopefully. Chocolate cake had quickly become his favorite dessert.

Shrugging her shoulders, she answered: "Probably, I couldn't think of any other reason why I would suddenly think of chocolate cake."

"Perhaps because you want to eat chocolate cake?" Daphne inquired and Pollux laughed.

"You have precognitive abilities," Theo said, astonished.

Cassandra looked at the latest addition to their group in surprise. He was so quiet most of the time, she had almost forgotten he was there.

"I'm no seer, but yes, I do. It's not much really, just feelings and knowing stuff before it happens. But it's never been really useful. We like to call it my 'lucky guesses'."

"Wicked," Tracy said.

They left the class and headed for the library. They already had homework to do and the library was the ideal place to do that. The Slytherin common room was far too loud and the lack of sunlight was making one's eyes hurt.

A table between the bookshelves, big enough for the six of them was free and they sat down.

"Thank Merlin it isn't so much we have to do. Perhaps we'll even have the weekend free of homework," Tracy said, looking at her notes.

"What do we start with? Charms? I think it should be quite easy to finish, right?" Pollux asked.

"Better than DADA. I'm not even sure if I understood the topic of our essay correctly with all that stuttering," Cassandra added.

"Alright. The uses of levitation-spells... hmm, what's in the book?" Daphne browsed her Charms book, looking for helpful paragraphs.

_"I know a good use! Levitate Millicent out of bed in the morning and dump her in a cold shower. That ought to wake her up."_

Millicent Bulstrode was still not accustomed to getting up early and it was terribly difficult to wake her up. After the first morning, Cassandra had outright refused to be on waking up Millicent duty ever again. Considering Pansy was friends with Millicent, Daphne and Tracy had voted for her being the one who had to wake the girl every morning.

_"That's not very nice of you, sister," _ Pollux admonished. _"But you gave me a great idea..."_

_"As long as the idea has Draco in it I'm all ears."_

_"Perhaps I'll tell you later. We better get to the task of finding real uses for the levitation spell. I don't think Flitwick would look to kindly at the idea of using it for a prank."_

Pollux looked out of the window next to him. The Forbidden Forrest was visible in the distance, in front of it a small hut.

_"I wonder who lives there,"_ he said to his sister.

_"Where?"_ she asked, looking up from her parchment, which was already halfway filled in her intricate handwriting. _"You mean the hut? Don't know. Hagrid perhaps. He is the gamekeeper after all."_

Two students were approaching the hut. The red hair of one of them was still visible, despite the distance.

_"You think that's Harry and the Weasley, Cassy?"_

_"Might be. Harry seemed to know Hagrid, so he might be visiting him."_


	4. Chapter 4

The six of them had spent the weekend outside, relaxing by the lake and enjoying the last of the autumn sun. It had also spared them Draco's company, who was staying in the common room and telling everyone about his father and his connections to the ministry or gossiping about Harry and the other Gryffindors.

Cassandra had used the time for reading another book, while Tracy and Daphne were talking about their younger siblings. The boys had discussed Quidditch results for a while before Blaise began writing a letter to his grandparents in Italy. When he was still writing after four pieces of parchment, Cassandra put her book away curiously and went over to the boy. She could not read a word of what he had written, considering it was all in Italian but occasionally one of their names stuck out.

"You already have a lot to tell your grandparents," she observed.

"Si. They want to know everything about Hogwarts. You know, they didn't go to school here and neither did my father. My Nonna wasn't so sure if this is the right school for me. She wanted me to attend school in Italy but Mother insisted on Hogwarts," Blaise explained, picking at his quill.

"I'm sure you'll like it here," Cassandra told him, watching the rest of their friends. Tracy and Daphne were still talking but Theo had decided on an afternoon nap, leaving a very bored Pollux.

"Oh dear," Cassandra said, nudging Blaise and pointing into the direction of the two boys. "I wouldn't take a nap if I were him. He's giving Pollux the perfect opportunity."

Blaise looked at her inquisitively but the girl only indicted at the boys again. Pollux had quietly inched closer to Theo and drawn his wand. By now Tracy and Daphne had also noticed what was going on and were watching him quietly. The tip of the blackthorn wand lit in an inky black and Pollux drew it over the sleeping boys face. Once he was satisfied, he quietly withdrew and sat down next to the others.

"What did you do?" Daphne whispered. From their position it was impossible to see what he had drawn on the boys face.

"Wait 'til he wakes up."

The five Slytherins waited anxiously for their friend to wake up. When after ten minutes the only thing the boy had done was snore softly they got fed up with waiting. Blaise got up and prodded at Theo's leg. A second prodding finally woke him up. He rubbed his eyes, messing up some of Pollux' careful drawings and noted the others staring at him.

Pollux had done great work. The now slightly smudged glasses around his eyes strongly resembled Professor McGonagall's and the whiskers on his cheeks reminded them of her Animagus form they had seen during their first Transfigurations class.

"What?" Theo asked them confused. "Why are you all staring at me?"

For a moment there was silence, all of his friends were trying hard not to laugh and failing.

Finally, Cassandra said between two giggle fits: "You should never sleep out in the open unprotected. Someone might take advantage of your vulnerability."

* * *

When they had returned to the Slytherin common room Sunday evening, Draco started once again, telling all of the older students who were willing to listen, how Neville had managed to explode his cauldron during their first Potions lesson. Laughter at the Gryffindors mishap filled the room.

With a loud 'SMACK' Cassandra snapped her book shut, some students jumping in their seats at the unexpected noise.

_"Relax, it's not worth it,"_ Pollux said.

_"I - am going to bed. At least there I can read in silence. _Good night everybody."

Pollux stared after his sister and then shrugged his shoulders at their friends.

"To loud to concentrate," he explained.

"What is it about Potter, that makes her react like this? I mean, she actually defended him in Potions," Blaise asked, not understanding what she was making all that fuss about.

"He's family," was Pollux answer.

"But I've never seen you talk to him," Tracy said.

"I know. He probably doesn't even remember us. And Weasley makes sure we don't come to close. I can understand him, somehow at least," Pollux responded.

"Most Gryffindors don't want anything to do with us snakes," Theo said. "And usually we don't want anything to do with the lions either."

"Just because they're in another house doesn't mean we can't have any contact, can't be friends. They are still family," Pollux answered heatedly.

"Okay, okay, no need to get angry," Theo had his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"But, back to Cassy defending Potter. Has Professor Snape done anything?" Daphne asked curiously.

"No, nothing I know of."

"Strange. I mean he told us on our first day we should always stick together and never openly disagree with another Slytherin and she did exactly the opposite," Daphne wondered. "He must have done something."

* * *

The something arrived with a large eagle owl during breakfast next morning. It landed on the table in front of Cassandra and dropped a letter on her plate, directly onto her toast.

She sighed annoyed and tried to pick it up but the owl pecked at her fingers.

"Ouch! Phineas?! What in Merlin's name?" she exclaimed, sucking on the now bleeding wound on her hand.

Pollux tried to get the letter away from the owl or the owl away from the letter, whatever worked, but ended up being pecked at as well.

"Stupid owl!" Cassandra growled. "How am I supposed to read the letter if I can't open it?"

She tried to snatch the letter again, but the owl wouldn't have any of it. Hooting loud and rustling his feathers, the eagle owl stared at her.

"That's a strange owl," Daphne remarked, eyeing him while carefully making sure to stay out of pecking range. A few seats further down the table Draco and his goons were watching them and whispering with other students.

"Uncle Severus, ... I mean Professor Snape, told me he sent a letter to Aunt Walburga about her granddaughters behavior. Seems like she wasn't too happy to read about a Black helping the Gryffindors. Then again, Sirius Black was a Gryffindor, perhaps that messed up the bloodline."

Tracy glared at them, while Cassandra turned white.

"Why is that owl so agitated?" Blaise asked, hiding his hands under the table to escape the sharp beak of the owl.

"Grandma probably told him to. If Snape wrote her...," Cassandra explained, eyeing the letter with a queasy feeling.

The owl hooted again, as if insulted by her words. Pollux looked thoughtfully at the animal.

"Are you trying to tell us something?" he asked the owl.

The owl turned its head towards the boy, fixing him with big yellow eyes and hooted again.

"Come on, Pollux, why would..."

"No, think about it. Why hasn't she sent a howler? Just writing a letter ... that wouldn't be like her."

They both studied the envelope for a moment. It certainly wasn't a howler or the ears of everyone in the Great Hall would be ringing by now. It looked like a normal letter a family member would sent to one of the students, although it was a bit big at one side. Suspiciously, Cassandra drew her wand, poked at the side and jumped, when it began to move.

Phineas hooted again.

"See, he was trying to tell you something."

"Okay, okay. You're a very good and clever owl, Phineas. I'll be careful and you'll get an owl treat later," Cassandra told the owl. Phineas turned his head to one side, studied her for a moment, stole a piece of toast from her plate and took off.

"Or you can simply have my toast..."

By now, the commotion at the Slytherin table had been noticed by the staff and Professor Snape came over.

"What is this fuss all about, Miss Black?" he asked.

"She got a letter from her grandmother," Draco piped up from down the table.

"Since when is he a Miss?" Pollux asked the others quietly, so Snape wouldn't hear it.

"A letter. And what is so special about this letter that you can't simply open it like every other student, Miss Black?"

"It moves," Cassandra simply stated, poking at it with her wand again.

"Open it," the Professor demanded.

"Oh no, no, no, no. It'll stay closed. I won't touch it," Cassandra said, shaking her head. she was not at all interested in anything the envelope might contain.

"Open it!" the Professor repeated, louder. A few student sniggered. The other Houses had noticed as well something was going on at the Slytherin table and were staring over, food forgotten.

"All right. I'll open it."

Carefully, Cassandra picked the letter up, grabbing only the side that did not move.

_" I really don't want to know what's in there!"_ she complained to her brother.

_"Don't worry, if it's something dangerous, Professor Snape will take care of it."_

_"Somehow I doubt that, Pollux. For whatsoever reason, he dislikes us"_

_"He's still a teacher. He has to help us, especially in front of the rest of the staff and the headmaster," _ Pollux said, indicating at the old wizard coming down to their table as well. _"Besides, it would be his fault you got hurt. After all, he forced you to open the letter. Which is, technically, illegal, unless there is suspicion that something dangerous or illegal has been sent."_

_"Well, there probably is something dangerous in there. It _moves_. But anyway, how do you know such things?"_

_"Rule number one for pranksters: Always know the school rules - and find loopholes to exploit. More fun, less trouble."_

_"Okay..."_

Cassandra drew the tip of her wand along the envelope, slicing it open and then turned it around, letting the contents drop on the table. A silver snuffbox fell onto it with an audible thud.

"Well, it seems you grandmother sent you a snuffbox," Professor Snape stated. Draco, who had gotten up and stood next to his godfather, stretched out his hand to pick it up.

"No!" Pollux said, grabbing his arm and pushing it away from the box.

"Ow, Professor, he's hurting me!" Draco complained tying in vain to get his arm out of his cousins strong grip.

"Be happy he caught you in time. Stay away from it, all of you!" Cassandra ordered carefully pushing Daphne and Blaise away from the table.

"What is going on here?" Professor Dumbledore interrupted them. After noticing Snape's failing at stopping the initial commotion, he had come to the Slytherin table personally.

"It would seem, as if Miss Black was sent a snuffbox," Professor Snape explained.

"Ah. And a very pretty silver snuffbox, one might say," the headmaster nodded, inspecting the item. "But I do not think using it would be very wise, would it, Miss Black?"

"No headmaster," Cassandra answered truthfully. "I know this snuffbox. It belonged to my great-grandfather. It bites."

"Then it was very wise of you not to put your hand into the envelop. But perhaps we should continue our talk in my office? You should come with us as well, Severus."

He levitated the snuffbox in front of him and waited for Cassandra and the Potion Master to follow him. Pollux got up as well.

"No, Mr. Black, you should stay here and attend your lessons afterwards, so your sister won't be missing too much of the subject matter. I'm sure you'll be kept informed on anything that happens in my office word by word," he added with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

Cassandra followed the two Professors up the stairs and through a couple of corridors to a gargoyle.

"Sugar Quills," the headmaster said, and the gargoyle sprung aside.

The office was full of strange instruments, Cassandra had never seen before. On the walls were dozens of portraits of former headmasters. Some of them were watching them other were sleeping or at least pretending to do so. Four frames were empty. The silver plates beneath them identified the missing inhabitants as Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin.

"They have not been seen in a very long time," the headmaster explained. "I think the last time they visited this office was in the 18th century."

In one corner sat a beautiful bird on a perch. It chirped happily when it saw Dumbledore enter his office.

"Is that a Phoenix?" the girl asked.

"Yes, this is Fawkes," Dumbledore petted the red and golden feathers once and sat down behind his desk.

"Take a seat. Anybody a sherbet lemon?" he offered.

"What's a sherbet lemon?" Cassandra had never heard of such a thing.

"A Muggle sweet. Try one," the headmaster encouraged her, pointing at a bowl fill of sweets on his desk.

Carefully, Cassandra picked one, unwrapped it and put it in her mouth. She had never before eaten Muggle sweets. Her grandmother had not allowed any kind of sweets and something made by Muggles? Never.

"Well?" the headmaster inquired.

"It's not bad?" Cassandra said, uncertainly. After all, she had no idea, how sweets were supposed to taste. Cake she knew. She had eaten it, when they visited the Malfoys, and at the Start-of-Term Feast she had tried as many of the deserts as possible.

The headmaster simply smiled at her.

"Well, that still leaves us with the matter of the biting snuffbox," he said, indicating at the object on his desk.

"Would be happy if biting was the only thing it does," Cassandra mumbled.

Dumbledore lifted one eyebrow. "It does more?"

"Not really do, it's more what happens when it bites you."

"And what happens?" Professor Snape asked.

Cassandra glared at him. It was his fault after all, that that thing was there in the first place.

"It's filled with Wartcap powder," she explained.

"Ah, very painful, if you get bitten. You were indeed lucky you did not pull it out of the envelope," the headmaster said.

"It has less to do with luck and more with a protective owl," the girl said, carefully poking at the wound the owl had left on her hand. At least it had stopped bleeding.

Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles. "That still leaves the question as to why it was sent to you."

Cassandra looked at Professor Snape, who stared back at her with his black eyes. "Ahem, well, Professor Snape..."

_"Wait,"_ her brother said.

_"Why?"_

_"Think about the consequences. If you tell the headmaster about Snape's treatment of Harry, it might get even worse. And if the other Slytherins hear about you telling on our Head of House..."_

_"So you say I should lie?! You saw how he treats Harry! That is unacceptable!"_

_"Not necessarily lie, just, leave out some aspects."_

_"But, grandma sent me the snuffbox because HE wrote her that letter."_

_"Well, you did talk back at him in class. It shouldn't surprise you."_

_"I asked a legitimate question,"_ Cassandra retorted angrily.

_"Still, sometimes it's better to be quiet."_

"Professor Snape and I ... had a disagreement over his teaching methods. Apparently he wrote my grandmother about it. Obviously she wasn't very pleased with me."

"A disagreement over teaching methods. And why would your grandmother be so displeased about it?"

"Well, she doesn't want us to cause any kind of trouble. We're Blacks, we're expected to behave well."

Snape snorted at that.

"Severus," Dumbledore reprimanded gently.

"What's so funny about that?" Cassandra asked the Potion Master.

"Good behavior is not something I would associate with your father."

"Severus!" Dumbledore reprimanded again. "But that doesn't sound like a logic reason to sent her own granddaughter something so dangerous."

"Since when does grandma need a reason for anything, especially a logic one?" Cassandra asked quietly.

Dumbledore looked at her inquiringly: "Does she often behave like this?"

"Well, no, yes. I mean, we're pure-bloods. It's not exactly uncommon...," she trailed off.

Growing up with a woman like Walburga Black wasn't easy. The twins had tried to stay out of her way as much as possible and not to do anything that might have angered her. Sometimes, their temper won though. On such occasions Mrs. Black had given them endless lectures about how useless their father had been, having been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, hanging out with those people and running away at sixteen. Those lectures were usually a lot worse than the punishment that followed, at least for the twins.

They could barely remember their father, her grandmother had destroyed all pictures of him she could find in the house only the one in their fathers room, stuck to the wall with a permanent sticking charm, survived. The twins were forbidden to enter that room, but they had often snuck into the room at night, looking at the picture of their father and his friends. They looked so happy. Did he really betray his best friend? Was he really how his mother described him? They had a hard time believing it. The boy with the dark curls and laughing grey eyes seemed so different from that.

"It's alright, dear girl, don't worry. Go back to your class. I will get rid of the snuffbox for you."

_"Everything alright?"_ Pollux asked his sister when she joint him in Transfiguration.

_"I think so. He's quite strange, the headmaster. But the sweet was nice."_


	5. Flying lessons and forgotten rooms

The next trouble for the twins arrived in the form of a notice in the common room.

"Hey, look! The flying lessons are starting soon!" Pollux exclaimed happily.

"Oh dear!" Cassandra exclaimed, when she read the note. If flying was anything like being on a boat, she didn't even want to try. Walburga Black had never let the twins near a broomstick, claiming there were far more dignified methods for travelling, like apparition or flooing.

"Really? Let me see," Theo said and went over to where the Black Heir was standing. "Starting Thursday, together with the lions."

By now almost all of the Slytherin first-years were standing in front of the note.

"What are you looking at?" Draco Malfoy asked from the entrance. He had obviously just come from his weekly meeting with his godfather.

"We'll have flying lessons soon, Draco," Pansy explained in a shrill voice. "Isn't that nice? You can show all of the others how good you are at flying. Especially the Gryffindors. We'll have lessons together with them. I wonder if Potter will fall off of his broomstick."

_"You are far more likely to fall off, Parkinson!"_ Pollux thought. _"James Potter was an excellent Quidditch player. Flying is in his blood. Do you remember the picture of Harry's first birthday? He's flying around on his toy broomstick like he's done it for years."_

"That would be fun to watch. Flying isn't easy if you have no talent," Draco told Pansy. "Have I told you about the time I escaped from one of those Muggle flying things?"

"I'll be off to the library," Cassandra said. Draco had spent half of his last birthday party telling everybody the story and she certainly didn't want to hear it again. Narrow escapes from Muggles had no appeal to her. They were risks to the Statute of Secrecy and quite needless in Draco's case. Why some students found it interesting to hear about near discoveries by Muggles was completely beyond her.

"But we've been in the library all day!" Pollux complained. He and Theo had begun a rather heated discussion about Quidditch. Even though he had never been on a broomstick himself, Pollux had been a fan of the Montrose Magpies for years.

"Don't worry, I'll be going alone."

"Just be back before curfew," her brother reminded her. When engrossed in a book, Cassandra often forgot the time.

* * *

The Black girl had nothing she needed to do at the library so she didn't really hurry or take any short cuts. It gave her the time to think about what she wanted to read. It was Saturday evening and they had spent the whole morning and afternoon in the library working on their essays, so reading for classes was ruled out immediately. Besides, there would be nothing new for her anyway. But what else could she read?

When she arrived at the library she still had not made a decision so she browsed along the shelves, reading the title of a book whenever she felt like it. She stopped when one finally piqued her interest.

_"Mhh trolls,"_ she thought to herself. _"I did want to check on them."_

Cassandra pulled the book out and settled herself in a comfortable chair next to a window, beginning to read. After half an hour she put the book way. There was absolutely nothing interesting in it. Trolls like to eat raw human flesh. Surprise, surprise. Even the smallest child raised in a magical household knew that. Frustrated, she put the book back where she had found it and continued looking for interesting books. When she found nothing, she decided to go back to the common room, hoping Draco had shut up by now.

Walking down to the dungeons she noticed a corridor she had never used before. No torches lit up the wall and it was impossible to see where it led. Her curiosity was definitely piqued. Briefly Cassandra thought about asking Pollux to come and explore it with her but when she checked, he was still talking about Quidditch with Theo and didn't even notice her presence in his thoughts.

After thinking for a moment to find the right spell she lit the tip of her cypress wand and followed the corridor.

There were no doors at the left or right walls, only a massive wooden one at the end of the corridor. Cassandra tried the handle and, to her surprise, it opened groaning. Apparently no one had used that door in a while. Letting the light of her wand flood the room Cassandra took a look.

There were no desks and chairs, so it wasn't an unused classroom. Actually, there was no furniture at all in the room. Only four portraits. Two on the wall opposite of the door and one each on the left and right wall. The inhabitants of the portraits appeared to be sleeping. Disappointed she turned around and wanted to leave again, when a voice stopped her.

"First you wake us up and now you don't even have the manners to stay and have a chat," a woman complained.

Startled, Cassandra turned back to the portraits.

"Now, now, Rowena. We didn't give the poor girl any indication that we were awake. She probably wanted to be polity and let us sleep on in peace," the woman in the next portrait said.

"But there is no need to let us sleep!" boomed the man in the portrait on the right wall. "We don't need to sleep after all! We only do it because we are bored. There are not enough students curios enough to find us. I told you this is a terrible location for our portraits."

"Godric! Not so loud! You are giving me a headache," the woman named Rowena chastised.

"You're a portrait. You don't get headaches," the other woman interjected.

Cassandra watched bewilderedly as they continued bickering about one offence or another.

"Do ignore them. They are the ones that have no manners at all," a smooth voice said from her left.

The girl's head jerked to the last portrait, whose inhabitant had been quiet until now. The dark-haired man studied her carefully.

"It has been a while since a student found their way into this room. Tell me, what year is it?"

"Err, 1991?" Cassandra answered cautiously. Why in Merlin's name would they want to know the year?

"1991, oh my. Over 150 years since our last visitor," the man said, shaking his head. "Which House are you in, girl?"

"Slytherin," Cassandra mumbled. These portraits were confusing her. They reminded her strongly of... but no, that wasn't possible.

The other portraits were still arguing. Well, two were arguing and one was trying to keep the peace - and failing.

"...you manage to give a portrait a headache, Rowena!"

"Please, calm down, both of you!"

"It - is - NOT - possible, Godric!"

"YES - it - is!"

"There is no reason to fight like that!"

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"Will you two be quiet?" the man shouted at the other three portraits. "I can't understand our guest!"

They glared at him but remained quiet.

"Could you repeat it again, please?" the man asked.

"Slytherin."

"Ah, one of my own. See Godric, I told you my snakes would find us more easily than your lions," the dark-haired man gloated at the redhead opposite of him.

"We are in the dungeons. Of course some of your students stumble over us when they get lost."

"Excuse me? I certainly did not get lost," Cassandra said, miffed. "I just wondered why there was a corridor without any torches to light it."

Godric looked skeptical but a scowl from the dark-haired man stopped him from saying anything.

"Don't let him bother you, my little snake. Godric never knows when to shut up."

"Err, may I ask a question?" Cassandra said carefully.

"You already have but you may ask another one," Rowena said.

Cassandra glared at her. She behaved exactly like the Ravenclaws during lessons. Always knowing better and pointing out any mistakes others made.

"Who are you?"

The four laughed.

"Don't you already know, little serpent?"

Cassandra shook her head. "I have an idea but that's impossible."

"Tell us your idea then," the woman in the portrait next to Rowena encouraged.

Looking around the room again she sighed. If she was wrong and they laughed at her she simply would never come back.

Starting with the redhead on her right she listed their names.

"Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw," turning from the haughty raven-haired woman to the blond woman with the kind smile. "Helga Hufflepuff," and finally the dark-haired, green-eyed Founder of her own house. "Salazar Slytherin."

"Indeed," the man confirmed with a nod.

"But why are you here in an empty room, in an unused corridor? Why not in the headmasters office? You have portraits there just like all of the former headmasters."

"Already been in the headmasters office, mhh?" Godric Gryffindor asked."I always thought Slytherins were good at not getting caught."

"As opposed to your lions. And for your information I did not get caught doing anything."

"We only use our portrait in the headmasters office if Hogwarts tells us the students are in danger. If we are there constantly, the questions never cease. Even on the smallest matters we are consulted. It is tiresome," Rowena Ravenclaw explained. "We've been dead for so long and have no knowledge of modern concepts. Our opinions on most subjects are probably antiquated. No, the current headmaster has to make the decisions alone. We _only_ interfere if he puts the children in danger."

"Now that you know who we are, would you also tell us your name?" Helga Hufflepuff asked.

"Cassandra Black."

The portraits looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"What? Is there something wrong with my name?" she asked confused.

"No, dear. There is nothing wrong. Which year are you in?" Salazar Slytherin said soothingly. "Could you perhaps light the torches next to the door. The light from your wand is making it difficult to see you."

"I haven't really learned how to do that yet. First year started only a couple of weeks ago."

"A first-year. How do you like your lessons so far?" Rowena Ravenclaw asked before switching into lecture mode. "The incantation is _Incendio_. Just point your wand at the torch like that."

She demonstrated a stabbing motion with her own wand: "See, it's quite an easy spell."

Cassandra had known about the spell before, but it wasn't one she wanted to try on her own. Playing with fire could easily get you burned. After watching Ravenclaws wand for a second time Cassandra tried it.

"_Incendio_!"

A small spark appeared at the tip of the torch but it was enough to lighten it. The next try on the other torch went slightly better and the room was finally bright enough for her to turn of the light of her wand with a quiet "_Nox_". It was a second year spell, but one she had felt safe enough to try on her own. And it had proved to be very useful, especially for late night reading.

"Very good. Now we can finally see your beautiful face," Helga Hufflepuff congratulated.

Cassandra turned red and fixed her eyes on the floor. She was not used to compliments. Neither she nor Pollux had ever received any from their grandmother. Since they started at Hogwarts they sometimes received one but being mostly in classes with Ravenclaws being outstanding enough to receive a compliment was a rare feat.

_"Cassy? Where are you? Curfew is in five minutes, hurry up!"_

"Merlin's pants!" she cursed. "I've got to go. I need to be back in the common room in five minutes!"

"Will you come visit us again?" Salazar Slytherin asked.

"Err, sure. As soon as I find the time," she promised before hurrying out of the room into the direction of the Slytherin common room.

"Don't tell anybody about us. They have to find the way to this room on their own, otherwise they cannot enter," Rowena called after her.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Pollux asked her, as soon as she passed through the entrance.

"Sorry, forgot about the time," Cassandra apologized.

Even if Rowena Ravenclaw had not told her not to mention them, she wouldn't have. She was a Slytherin after all. Having access to the Founders and their knowledge was an advantage she would not give up lightly, not even to her own brother. Though, knowing Pollux, he would not really be interested in conversing with the portraits.

Luckily, he accepted her answer without any further questions.

* * *

"... and then this Muggle flying-thing, a he-li-cop-ter, came..."

"Is Draco telling them about his escape from that Muggle thing again?" Daphne groaned. He had told every Slytherin the story at least twice and was telling it again to anyone who might listen.

The Slytherins had arrived first at the grounds, where their lessons where to take place. Twenty brooms were lying on the ground in two neat rows. Everybody went to stand next to one broom and then they waited for the teacher and the Gryffindors to arrive.

The lions came first, chatting loudly, until their teacher arrived as well.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Stick your hand out over your broom and say `UP´!" Madam Hooch barked and all the students did.

Not many were successful on the first try, Draco and Harry amongst the few who had managed.

"Up!" Pollux commanded his broom and dutifully it sprang up to his hand.

_"Wicked,"_ he said.

His sister eyed his broom and looked back to hers, still laying on the ground.

_"Come on, it's not going to move all by itself. Just tell it to go up,"_ her brother encouraged.

Cassandra looked at her broom again. _" Oh, whatever! _... UP!"

To her astonishment the broom jumped up as well.

Once everybody had their broom in their hands, Madam Hooch showed them how to mount it correctly. The twins had to suppress smiles when she told Draco his grip was incorrect.

_"Oh, nice blackmailing material once we're back in the common room,"_ Cassandra crooned.

Before Madam Hooch had a chance to whistle for them to rise a few feet off the ground one off the Gryffindors shot up straight into the sky.

_"Is that Neville?"_ Cassandra asked.

_"Yes, and he doesn't look very comfortable up there either."_

_"Merlin!"_ His sisters shriek echoed in his head while Pollux watched Neville fall off the broom and hit the ground. The crack of breaking bone was loud enough for everyone to hear. The twins watched as Madam Hooch led the boy to the hospital wing after telling everybody to stay on the ground.

_"This does not encourage me to try flying,"_ Cassandra stated, absentmindedly massaging her own wrist.

_"If I never hear that sound again it will be too early," _Pollux agreed.

"Give that here, Malfoy!"

Harry's quiet order got their attention.

Draco had picked up something from the ground.

Pollux' brows furrowed as he eyed the glass ball:_ "Isn't that a Remembrall?"_

_"I think it is. It's Neville's. I saw it in his hand when Draco caused the commotion at the lions table during breakfast."_

_"Commotion? Oh, you mean when McGonagall came to the Gryffindor table?"_

_"Yes, didn't you notice?"_

_"Not really, I was reading."_

_"Wow! Look at this,"_ Pollux exclaimed. His sister followed his line of sight and stared.

_"He really is a natural at flying."_

The twins watched openmouthed as Harry chased the small glass ball, catching it a few feet over the ground.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Professor McGonagall's shouting shook the twins out of their stupor.

They heard the lions bravely trying to defend Harry.

"Professor McGonagall," Cassandra tried as well. There was no way she'd let anybody expel Harry, not if it wasn't his fault.

"Not now, Miss Black!"

Ron Weasley was also ignored and Harry dejectedly followed his head of house into the castle.

Malfoy grinned triumphantly as he watched the Gryffindor leave. As soon as the Professor was out of sight the Gryffindors began shouting at him.

"He didn't do anything wrong!"

"You flew first. If Harry gets punished, then so will you!"

"You can stop grinning right now, Draco," Cassandra said acidly.

The Slytherins stared at her in surprise. No one broke the rule number one. Especially not in front of Gryffindors. Slytherin problems stayed in the Slytherin common room. Even the Gryffindors were silent and watched.

_"There is no way I'm letting Harry get expelled."_

_"But not here. Remember the rules."_

"You've got a problem, Black?"

"Me? Certainly not. I just thought you might want to know that Madam Hooch is coming back. If you continue grinning like that you'll be following Potter in no time."

_"I thought you wouldn't let Harry get expelled?"_

_"I won't. But I am no lion running head first into trouble. Watch and learn my dear brother. Besides, now he won't think I had anything to do with whatever will happen."_

After being told about McGonagall dragging Harry of by Malfoy, Madam Hooch continued the lesson without Neville and Harry. They started a second try on hovering over the ground. Cassandra apparently had difficulties getting over her fear of flying. The little boat trip over the lake was not forgotten yet.

Madam Hooch went over to her once she noticed the problem.

"You don't need to be afraid," the teacher tried to sooth her.

"I'm not afraid. I just needed to talk to you in private," Cassandra said quietly. "Draco didn't tell you the truth and Professor McGonagall gave no one a chance to do so. Draco was the one who left the ground, against your orders. Harry just rescued a valuable possession of Neville's before it could break when Draco dropped it. From fifty feet in the air, intentionally, I might add. Harry certainly inherited Uncle James talent for flying. You should have seen him. It was amazing."

"Draco Malfoy broke my rules?! And tried to destroy another students possessions?" Madam Hooch asked, her yellow eyes glowing. Right now she truly reminded Cassandra of a bird of prey that finally found a victim.

"Yes. Though, might I suggest not expelling him? His father, Lucius, is on the board of governors. Letting him help Mr. Filch, perhaps even the Muggle way, will teach him far more. My cousin is a spoiled pure-blood, believe me. Give him some time to gloat about his victory and call him to your office at dinner."

Madam Hooch eyed her for a moment: "You Slytherins are truly devious. But I thought you never sell out one of your own?"

"Not in public, no. But apart from that... Besides, I count Harry amongst my family, far more than Draco, even though I'm more closely related to him. And no one hurts my family."

Madam Hooch nodded at her, something akin to pride shining in her eyes: "Very well."

_"Hook, line, sinker, brother dearest,"_ Cassandra grinned gleefully. _"Poor Draco won't know what hit him."_

_"You certainly belong to Slytherin, Cassy,"_ Pollux remarked, shaking his head as she rose gracefully off the ground. _"I can't wait to see Draco's face."_

_"Me neither," _ the girl said and after a moment added, _"You know, this isn't as bad as I thought. Perhaps I'll like flying."_


	6. Crossing Draco's plans

On their way from the library to dinner that evening they, they saw Neville, freshly released out of the Hospital Wing.

"Hey, Neville! How's the wrist?" Pollux asked the boy.

Neville looked at them, his eyes going wide when he saw the four other Slytherin first-years standing behind them.

"I-I," he stuttered, turning white.

"Are you sure you're ok? Perhaps you should have stayed in the Hospital Wing a little longer?" Cassandra asked, worriedly taking a few steps towards the lion.

"N-no, I-I won't say anything. Please!"Neville squeaked taking a step back.

The twins exchanged confused looks.

_"What in Merlin's name is he talking about?"_

"Neville? Is everything alright?" Harry Potter asked from the end of the other corridor, his redheaded friend right behind him.

"Y-yes, everything's alright."

"You sure, Neville?" the Weasley asked, eyeing the snakes with barely hidden contempt.

"Let's go to dinner," Blaise suggested, carefully studying the redheaded Gryffindor.

"We'll be there in a minute. Go on without us," Pollux told them and the four Slytherins left without looking back.

"I wanted to bring you your Remembrall. You lost it outside," Harry explained, holding the glass ball out to Neville.

"Thanks! My Gran would have been so angry with me if I had lost it," the boy's face lit up when he saw his lost possession.

"Harry was really spectacular. He caught it after a fall from fifty feet up in the air," Cassandra told Neville.

"Really?" the boy asked astonished. "I thought Madam Hooch told everybody to stay on the grounds. Did you get in trouble, Harry?"

Harry shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "Don't worry, everything's ok."

"He's made seeker!" Weasley blurted out and the other Gryffindor gaped at Harry in surprise.

"Ron! They wanted to keep it a secret!" Harry admonished his friend and the Weasley turned as red as his hair.

"Seeker? Wow! Congratulations, Harry. I'm sure you will be an excellent player," Pollux said. _"Can you believe that? A first-year seeker?"_

_"You saw him , too, Pollux. He is good. _And don't worry, Harry. Your secret is safe with us," Cassandra added.

"Don't trust those snakes, Harry! They're a bunch of lying..."

"Watch your words, blood-traitor!" Pollux growled, stepping in between his sister and the angry redhead, effectively shielding her.

"We're going to beat Slytherin during the next match!" Weasley boasted.

"You do that," Cassandra said, examining her nails. Then she turned her full attention back to her cousin "But be careful, Harry. I know the members of the Slytherin team. They won't play fair."

Harry blinked at her, clearly trying to figure out why in Merlin's name she was telling him that.

"What? Never got honest advice from a snake?" Pollux snickered.

"We can be nice - _if_ we like people. Anyway, just for your information, Draco will get punished for flying, I made sure of that," Cassandra told the three lions, who were gaping at her. "Just thought you'd like to know, Cousin."

With that she turned around and left for the Great Hall, leaving a confused Harry in the corridor.

* * *

Dinner on that Thursday would certainly go down in Slytherin history. While Malfoy by then had found out that Harry had not been expelled, he had found a new way to get the last Potter into trouble. Telling everybody at the Slytherin how he had tricked Harry into being out after curfew and already told Filch about a student planning to be out late, he failed to notice the looming shadow of Madam Hooch over him.

Cassandra leaned back, a satisfied grin on her face as she watched the show. Draco Malfoy's face when he was told about his detentions was priceless. The only thing the twins regretted was not having a camera to take a picture of the moment. It would have been a nice Christmas present for Lucius Malfoy.

While Draco trotted over to Mr. Filch, Blaise leaned over the table and whispered: "You had a finger in that pie, didn't you?"

The girl just shrugged: "No idea what you're talking about."

Daphne and Tracy, sitting next to her, giggled and a few of the older Slytherins looked at Cassandra contemplatively. The young witch raised a delicate eyebrow at them and they quickly went back to eating dinner.

_"Doing it in public, in front of every Slytherin - even better than my suggestion. I wonder if she used to be a snake herself. What are we going to do about the duel though?"_ Cassandra asked her brother. Should Harry get caught, there was nothing they could to to stop Dumbledore from expelling him. Pollux gnawed at his bottom lip for a moment, before his eyes lit up. _"Leave that to me. After all, they only get into trouble if they are truly caught, right?"_

_"What are you thinking about?"_

_"I think, I need to go and find the Bloody Baron."_

_"What do you need him for?"_

_"Peeves."_

_"..?"_

Pollux hurried out of the Great Hall, leaving his sister to stare at the space he had vacated and wonder what he was planning.

* * *

The next day, Harry was still sitting at the Gryffindor table, though looking a bit tired. Draco seethed. He was convinced Harry was responsible for the detentions the blond had to serve with Mr. Filch. That he now had not gotten into trouble for being out after curfew was simply too much for the young Malfoy.

Outwardly, the twins showed the perfect Slytherin masks but on the inside they were celebrating their second victory over their cousin.

Pollux observed the Gryffindor table._ "Harry and the Weasley aren't the only ones looking tired. Take a closer look at Hermione and Neville."_

_"Mhh?"_ Cassandra looked up from her book for a minute to study the two lions. _"You're right. Strange. I wouldn't have pegged Hermione for a rule breaker."_

Even the potions class with Professor Snape could not dampen the twins good mood. The Head of Slytherin house continued to hover over the Gryffindors and pick on Neville and Harry but today they didn't mind. One threat at a time.

Cassandra hummed happily, whilst brewing her own potion and, now and then, stopping one of her friends or her brother from messing up theirs.

Draco, the twins noted, wasn't getting his usual preferential treatment from his godfather.

_"Snape must be really angry with him."_

_"Well, he did break one of our fundamental rules. He got caught, now he's on his own for as long as he has to serve detention."_

_"True. Don't add those yet! It needs to cool down a little more,"_ Cassandra grabbed her brother's hand to stop him.

_"Huh? But the book says add them right after the stirring!"_

_"You overheated a little when you added the beetle eyes. If you let it cool down a bit now the potion will still be usable,"_ the girl explained._ "Now you can add them."_

_"How do you manage to keep an eye on all of our potions and still make no mistake?"_

_"Practice. Anyway, it's not a difficult potion to brew so I can pay attention to other things. Besides, I'm done."_

_"What? How?"_

At the end of the lesson Cassandra's mouth nearly fell open when, instead of using Draco's potion as an example for everybody else, Snape used hers.

_"Well...,"_ she said after a moment. _"...there is a first for everything."_

_"Yes, a first detention for Draco."_

_"Speaking of Draco's detention. You still haven't told me what you did to keep Harry and the Weasley out of trouble."_

_"I didn't do very much. Except run up a lot of stairs..."_

* * *

_oOo_

* * *

The evening before:

_"The one time you really need him, is the time you can't find him,"_ Pollux thought angrily. He had already searched many of the Bloody Barons favorite haunting places in the dungeon but the ghost was nowhere to be found. That left the astronomy tower.

Grumbling he made his way through the castle up the moving staircases and into the highest tower of the castle. Why did this have to be one of the favorite haunting place of the Bloody Baron?

"Sir Eadmund?" he called. It had taken him almost two weeks until the Bloody Baron had finally told him his name. The argument "I can't go running around calling Bloody Baron when I'm looking for you! What would people think?" seemed to have convinced the ghost. Finally, one (read Pollux) might add. Being something akin to friends with the ghost had come in very handy a couple of times. Especially when it came to making it to classes on time and without running into Peeves or trick stairs.

The feeling of ice cold water on his shoulder told him of the ghosts arrival.

"You were looking for me, young sir?"

"Yes, I was. Why are you up here? Do you know how many stairs this tower has?" Pollux complained slightly out of breath.

"I have never counted them. After all, I have no use for them," the Bloody Baron said with a grin. If you could get over the blood stained clothing and general grumpiness, the ghost was actually quite fun to be around.

"I have a favor to ask."

"Already? Even those of the snakes brave enough to talk to me, usually need years before they even think about such things."

The ghost pretended to lean against the nearest wall and watched the boy in front of him carefully.

"Well, it's urgent and you're the only one that can help."

"So, what is it I can do for you?"

"You remember my cousin Draco? You sat next to him during the Start-of -Term Feast," he questioned and, after a nod from the Bloody Baron, continued. "Anyway, he tricked another cousin of mine into going out after curfew and sold him out to Filch not five minutes later."

"A very Slytherin thing to do, some would say," Sir Eadmund stated.

"It's cowardly. He asked him for a Wizard's Duel. Not showing up is a sign of dishonesty and disrespect for traditions. No pure-blood who is worthy of that name would do that."

"So you want me to haunt your cousin a little?" the ghost questioned, his eyes glittering.

"No. He already got what he deserved. My sister made sure of that. Besides, this will be even worse for him. I would ask you to speak to Peeves. You're the only one he listens to. If Filch gets to close, he has to distract him, so they can get away unnoticed."

"Why not make sure your cousin never leaves for his little adventure?"

"Now that wouldn't teach Draco anything, would it? No, he has to know Harry was out at night and didn't get caught. He has to know he failed a second time at getting Harry expelled," Pollux explained. His grandmother would have been very proud of the evil smirk that graced his face -if she had seen it and not known it was because of her dear Draco.

"That is not a very nice thing to do, especially to your own cousin," Sir Eadmund said, shaking his head slightly.

"I'm a Black. Do you honestly think I care? So what do you say? Will you speak with Peeves?"

"Very well, I will speak with the Poltergeist if, and only if, you tell me what your sister did to punish your cousin."

"I think that can be arranged," Pollux grinned. A story to keep the old ghost entertained was a small price to pay for such a favor. Besides, it was something the ghost could torment a lot of future generations of Malfoys with.

* * *

oOo

* * *

This evening was the first time Cassandra managed to slip away from her fellow snakes to visit the Founders portraits. After a good night's sleep she had started to wonder if she hadn't only dreamt about finding the room, but on the way to the great hall she had spotted the dark corridor again, even though nobody but her seemed to notice it.

Giving her friends some excuse about the library and a book, she left them at the dinner table and, after a quick walk through the dungeons and the corridor, she opened the door and lit the torches next to it.

"Back again?" Godric Gryffindor asked, shielding his eyes from the sudden light.

"I said I'd be back."

"It's good to see you again," Helga Hufflepuff said. "Only having these three as company gets annoying after a while."

"Helga!" Gryffindor whined, gripping his heart and pretending to sink to his chair. "You wound me. I thought..."

"Stop whining, Godric!" Rowena commanded.

Godric Gryffindor glared at her. "Stop bossing me around, Rowena!"

"See, that's what I'm talking about,", Hufflepuff sighed. "Can you imagine listening to that for almost one thousand years?"

Cassandra vaguely shrugged her shoulders. Being alive - or whatever portraits are counted as - for one thousand years was unbelievable for her already, she did not need to imagine any company.

"You were going to tell us about your classes when you had to leave," Rowena said, leaning back in her high chair and looking down at the girl expectantly.

"Right. Classes. Err...," Obviously, this was not the subject Cassandra would have chosen to talk about but, after a moment of thought about what to tell them she decided to simply tell them everything that had happened. Perhaps this way everybody would be satisfied and there wouldn't be any quarrels. Seeing the Founders of Hogwarts bicker was something not even her wildest dreams could have come up with. They were supposed to be dignified and a well of knowledge for students to learn from, not people, that quarreled like little children.

Due to the lack of furniture, Cassandra sat down on the floor. Telling them about the first few weeks at Hogwarts would take a while. Thinking about it, she was astonished how much had happened in just six weeks.

Salazar Slytherin furrowed his dark brows when he saw her sitting on the floor. "A lady should not have to sit on the floor," he stated, his voice having a note of finality in it.

Cassiopeia gestures around the room. "Well, I don't see any furniture around that I could sit on."

"Call one of the Hogwarts house-elfs," Hufflepuff suggested.

"I can call them?", Cassandra replied, surprised. Of course she knew house-elves worked at Hogwarts. Even if she hadn't been told before, the way the food had appeared on the house tables after the sorting would have given it away. What she had never imagined was being able to call them, she was only a student after all.

"Not for every nonsense, but Salazar is right. You can't sit on the floor. We're in the dungeons. It's cold and damp, you'll get sick in no time," Rowena said, her voice leaving no room for arguments.

"And how exactly shall I call them? I don't know their names or anything..."

A loud CRACK interrupted her.

"Miss been calling Hooky? Miss be needing something?" an old house-elf squeaked. He seemed to be even older than Kreacher and the Black family elf was already ancient.

"Something to sit on, preferably comfortable?" Cassandra asked unsure.

The elf disappeared and came back just a few seconds later with a big black squashy sofa.

"Hooky be bringing Miss snack," the elf stated and a plate of sandwiches and a glass of pumpkin juice appeared out of nowhere.

"Thank you, Hooky, that's all."

"Miss be calling Hooky if Miss be needing anything," the elf said before disappearing.

Cassandra snuggled into the sofa and began talking, starting with the two now lions entering their compartment.

Modern concepts, like a train, she had to explain in more detail since the Founders had never heard of such things before.

When she told them of the sorting ceremony and the commotion the name Harry Potter had caused, Hufflepuff interrupted her.

"Why are they so interested in an eleven year old boy?" she asked confused.

"You've never heard of Harry Potter?"

"We didn't have any visitors for the last 150 years, young lady," Gryffindor reminded her.

"But all of the other portraits in Hogwarts know about him. Can't you go visit them? I know the inhabitants of portraits don't have to hang out there all day. My great-great-great-grandfather Phineas Nigellus Black has a portrait here at Hogwarts in the headmasters office and another one back home. He can walk between those and he can move freely through the other portraits at Grimmauld Place..."

"I wish we could do this as well but, unfortunately,..."

Cassandra didn't hear one word of Rowena Ravenclaws explanation.

Phineas Nigellus Black.

Former headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Having a portrait in the headmasters office as well as at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

Frantically she tried to recall everything she had said during the conversation with the headmaster. Was there anything Phineas Nigellus could have found grave enough to tell her grandmother about it? It had been a couple of days since then but that could mean anything. From Walburga Black not knowing to her planning something even worse as punishment for her granddaughter. Oh, dear. Pollux had been right. She shouldn't have said anything.

"Is everything alright, my little snake?" Salazar Slytherin interrupted her. "You've gone as white as a sheet."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Cassandra groaned and buried her face in the cushions of the sofa. "How could I be so stupid?"

"We can't hear you like that," Helga gently chided. "Tell us what happened."

With a huff, the girl sat back up. Perhaps they could help her.

"Fine, but don't interrupt me, please."

She started again, explaining about Harry defeating the Dark Lord as an infant and picking her story up at the sorting ceremony again. When she reached the talk at the headmasters office, she told them of what she had just realized.

"That teacher is mistreating one of my lions?" Gryffindor roared. "How dare he? But you've been very brave, defending him even against your own Head of House. Perhaps you would have made a good lion as well..."

Salazar Slytherin glared at the redhead.

"Mine!" he stated possessively.

"You can fight about students' houses later! We should rather try to help Cassandra with her current problem," Hufflepuff said.

Rowena Ravenclaw looked at her thoughtfully.

"So there is a possibility that this ancestor of yours told your grandmother but perhaps he hasn't."

"Yes?"

"Mhh, so first we'll have to collect more information to draw a conclusion. Yes, you will need to talk to this Phineas Nigellus again."

Cassandra stared at woman bewildered: "You want me to go to the headmasters office and talk to the portrait?"

"Of course. Once we know whether he talked to your grandmother or not, we can come up with further plans", Ravenclaw explained.

"Why can't you go and talk to him? You have portraits there!"

"We cannot know whether the headmaster is in the office or not. If we show up whilst he is in his office, it will cause more problems," Rowena explained.

"And how do you suggest I get into Dumbledore's office? I don't think he'll let me in if I tell him I need to talk to Phineas Nigellus. And even if he did, he would probably be there during the whole conversation. He is already suspicious about my grandmother. I mean what grandmother sends their granddaughter a biting snuffbox filled with wartcap?" Cassandra snorted humorless.

"Sneak in! An adventure!", Gryffindor exclaimed excitedly.

"Sneak into the headmasters office?! My family might be prone to madness but even I'm not crazy enough to do that!"

"Just wait and be careful with every letter you get," Slytherin suggested after he had studied her face. "Everything else is to dangerous. Running head first into every situation without looking left or right could get you hurt. Besides, there are teachers here that can help you if she sends you another dark artifact."

"But what about the holidays? We cannot send her back to such a evil woman!" Helga Hufflepuff said worriedly.

"Sometimes evil is the best solution there is," Slytherin stated gravely. "Sometimes, every other option is even worse. At least with her grandmother she knows what to watch out for."

He was right there. If Walburga Black died or was deemed unfit to raise her grandchildren, they would have to stay with the Malfoys. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was their closest living relative. Well, there was still her sister Andromeda Tonks but she had been disinherited and was officially not a part of the family. There was little chance for her to be named the guardian of the twins.

"Tell us about the rest of your time here," Slytherin asked her. "That must be a far happier topic."

Thinking about how she got Draco into trouble with him being none the wiser about the culprit, Cassandra smiled and continued her story.

Of course, Helga Hufflepuff spent the whole time worrying about Neville and praising Harry for defending his fellow Gryffindor. Rowena Ravenclaw heavily disapproved of the rule breaking. and Godric Gryffindor happily bragged about his lions courage. Only Salazar Slytherin stayed quiet.

"Come on, Salazar! You should be proud of your little snake," Godric said, "Where is your boasting?"

"Salazar?" Helga questioned carefully.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course," the Founder said, absentmindedly. "That truly was a very sneaky revenge. Benefitting a Slytherin."

"Salazar, what is wrong?" Gryffindor asked, his voice surprisingly gently.

"Just caught up in thoughts."

"We know you, Salazar Slytherin. You can't lie to us. Something bothers you," Rowena stated.

"I'm just wondering why any student of my House would think bullying is tolerable. You all know my opinion on this topic."


End file.
